BUILDING TRADE.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19691, 7 August 1929, Page 9

BUILDING TRADE.

MEETING OF ASSOCIATION. TIMBER GRADING RULES. The monthly meeting of the Canterbury Master Builders' Association was held last evening, Mr W. P. Glue presiding over a fair attendance. Reference was made by the secretary (Mr W. H. Winsor) to the provisions of the Workers' Annual Leave Bill, brought down in Parliament by Mr D. G. Sullivan, a copy of which was received from the New Zealand Federation. Mr Winsor characterised the Bill as absurd. Mr H. Bradley had made out a good case against the Bill in an interview in Ths Press. ''Fortunately for us, if the Bill became law we could pass on the cost of the holiday," said Mr Winsor, "and we should not forget to pass it on." Mr H. C. Harrison said such a measure was unjust to tradesmen in the building industry. The labourer would never have a chance of earning the holiday. It was not a fair thing, and would mean setting one class of labour against another. In response to a letter from the Director of the Technical College the secretary was instructed to notify him that the Association would support the reelection of Mr G. A. Pascoe as the representative of Employers' Associations on the Board of Governors. Mr Glue was appointed to attend the election if such was necessary. The New Zealand Federation gave particulars of replies received from the various Associations in reference to standard grading of timber and classification rules. Auckland had unani mously agreed that it should express the opinion that the rules were too cumbersome to be of practical value, and could serve no good purpose. It was considered that their general a'doption would add to the cost of handling timber, thereby increasing the retail prices, and, as a corollary, increasing the cost of building. The unwieldy character of the new classification and the small distinctions separating various grades would be most certainly the cause of irritation between merchants, architects, inspectors, and building owners. The Association he, the view that the varying climatic conditions of New Zealand made it impossible to adopt a uniform classification. The Wellington Association viewed with disfavour the proposed classification, which it held bore the appearance of an attempt on the part of the sawmillers to find a means of selling inferior grades of timber, and in any case too many different classes were provided for; also that the grading was wrong, as there was no provision for "all clean" timber. Southland Association considered the classification was unworkable in Southland on account of the difference between the timber there and in other parts of the Dominion. Canterbury Association had replied that the area of ground necessary and the number of stacks of timber required, and the very close similarity of some of the grades, made the whole system proposed cumbersome and unnecessary in the extreme. Canterbury could carry on under the follownig classi-fication:—-Ordinary buildine. dressed ordinary building, clean ordinary building, building heart, dressed building heart, and clean building heart. The Federation also advised that Otago. Southland. Auckland, and Can- I terburv Associations had all carried I resolutions in opposition to the Timber

Industrial Efficiency Bill. The lastnamed Association had considered the Bill totally unnecessary. Its resolution stated:—"The fact that the constitution of the proposed Board makes no provision for the representation of those most vitally concerned—the consumers of timber—is a very grave weakness." The Federation executive, on receipt of the replies from the various Associations, had unanimously resolved: That the Federation executive is of the opinion that the Timber Industrial Efficiency Bill is not in the best interests of the building industry or the public, and that the - measure be opposed by the Federation. Mr C. H. Cox gave an address on "Historical Buildings."